


carbon prevails

by sleepyvan



Category: The Creatures (Youtube RPF)
Genre: ITS NOT SCARY PLEASE DONT THINK IT'S SCARY, M/M, a lot of fluff, hint of slypkc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-01
Updated: 2015-08-01
Packaged: 2018-04-12 08:47:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4472927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepyvan/pseuds/sleepyvan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>249 miles above the Earth, the International Space Station orbits. Every night, at 1:12am UTC, there's a call from Mission Control.</p>
            </blockquote>





	carbon prevails

It's quiet in the International Space Station. There is never technically any late night because there is no night where Aleks stands, but all the other astronauts had gone to count sheep, and Aleks feels like he is defying some long-dormant urge to go to bed early. 

He floats over to the station's cupola, stretching his weary limbs and cracking his wrists as he goes. He checks his watch as he bunkers down into the small, cup-shaped viewing module. 1:09am, it blinked. The sprawl of Earth underneath him is a welcome scene, and he stands there for a second, checking out the blinking lights of India slowly revolving beneath him. He slowly inches his camera out of his pants and snaps a quick picture, cursing as the bright flash bounces off the window and overexposes the photo. He lined up his shot again, and behind him, the intercom buzzes to life. 

_"Come in, Harmony,"_ A grainy voice crackles, and Aleks sighs, clipping his camera to the loop of his sweatpants. Right on time, he concedes as he floats over to the command module. He slips the communication headphones over his ears, batting down the floating wire, and dials in. 

"I can hear you loud and clear, Mission Control," Aleks says, tweaking the sound input and hears a tinny version of his own voice echoing over the line. There is silence over the feed for a couple seconds as the transmission echoes down, and then he hears a low grunt on the other end. Aleks rolls his eyes. "Hi James." 

"Took you long enough," James replies after a pause, a thunk signifying that the Capsule Communicator had put his feet up on another chair, stretching out his aching back. Aleks rolls his eyes.

"I wasn't sure if I was going to get you or Mathewson," Aleks says, mock-defensively, threading his eyebrows together even though the other man couldn't see him. "I didn't want to take my chances with Cat Man."

James pauses, and snorts. He didn't know what the other looked like, but Aleks could imagine he was smiling. 

(They had only whispered names in the dark of space, giggling like kids as the world tumbled on below them. Aleks described the view outside, punctuating his spiel of what was going on in the ISS with "Holy shit, I think that was Hawaii," and "The Sahara is SUPER huge, dude, what the fuck?" and James giggles along, holding the microphone in his lap as he commented back with stories about his dog, or a documentary he had seen recently. Aleks likes to think he kinda knew what James looked like, but he wasn't sure. There was a telltale scrape of beard on the microphone, a rustle of a loose t-shirt. That's all he got, usually. His voice, smooth and rich, fuelled many a late night sinning.) 

Their first call as a disaster, on all accounts. A fire had caught in the Zvezda module due to a malfunctioning circuit, and James had rocketed on the line to cover an anxiety-ridden Mathewson, calmly instructing Aleks to get his _fucking oxygen mask on_ before walking him through how to contain the fire. Aleks had successfully extinguished it within ten minutes, to the many exhausted cheers of his coworkers and the distant sighs of Mission Control. 

Since then, James had been assigned the "night" shift, and Aleks had always been there to receive his calls. Somewhere in between the fourth and fifth call, as James would tell another fucking poop joke, Aleks found he never wanted to sign off. He falls in love hard, like he did with space, like he did with training, like he does with a man he's never seen. 

"What's going on today, Aleksandr?" James says, the chair he was in creaking as he spins slowly. "Any bad choices?" 

"Well, Spencer wanted a haircut, and I volunteered to cut it, which, looking at it now, was a bad idea," Aleks sighs into the mic, allowing the feedback to die down before admitting,"Spencer has a buzzcut now."

James wheezes, and there is a slap on a table somewhere far away. A cut off, "You are all children-," echoes off into the mic, and Aleks shakes his head, forgetting momentarily about James' lack of view. He swallows deeply, and watches the headphone wire swim past him. The camera was floating up next to his torso, and he carefully batted it back down. They chatter listlessly for a couple of minutes, and soon, there's a comfortable silence over the channel. 

"Hey, James?" He asks finally into the mic, eyes shut tight. There's a muffled "Yeah?" as James types distractedly in the background.

"You know if the video system is capable yet?" Aleks questions, trying for casual, and bites his lip to stifle the nervous sigh. There's a silence on the other end, the typing disappearing suddenly. He almost rethinks the whole thing, to tell James never mind and bring up the newest movie he hasn't seen, until he hears a muffled, "Eddie? You know if the video system is on yet?" A distant, familiar nasally voice answers that yes, it should be, and asks if James is ready for such a long distance relationship, cause that shit is hard, which James answers with a very pointed, "Shut the HELL up." Aleks laughs. 

There had been some mishap with the video calling system months earlier, even before James had came in, some malfunctioning software wreaking havoc on their servers. But Seamus had stopped him during lunch the day before, saying that he had got a message from Control that the video calling was up again. Seamus used to call his boyfriend, the very same Eddie, just to say goodnight or shoot the shit, and would relish this moment even more than Aleks would. 

There's a small burst of static as James wrestles on his headphones again. "Sorry about that. Yeah, it should be on. Wanna try?" It sounded like a challenge, and Aleks laughed breathlessly. "Yeah, dude. Bring it on." 

"Ok, well, keep an eye on your screen, I'll have it going in a second." 

Aleks nods, and hurriedly looks around the space station for some sort of reflective surface to do his hair in. He finds a screen and curses as he sees his ratty, slightly greasy hair reflect back at him. He half wants to wake Stef up to get him to fix it, but she'd elbow him in the face before loudly going back to sleep. He sighs, running his hands through his hair once or twice. His pajamas, a NASA t-shirt and his sweatpants, weren't anything too special either. _Fuck_ , he thinks as he sees the monitor blip to life out of the corner of his eye. He floats back over, pulling himself along the station. He carefully slips the headphones over his ears again, strapping himself down into his chair, and waits for the "Call Incoming" picture to flash. 

"Aleks? You still there?" James crackles to life again over his headphones. "Yep. Ready whenever you are, Commander," Aleks teases, and James says, "Oh now, fuck off," with a smile in his tone. He suddenly hears a gagging sound somewhere in the background in James' side, and James whips off his headphones to tell who must've been Eddie what a motherfucking SHIT he is, and Aleks breaths a laugh, holding his trembling fingers together. 

Suddenly, the video is on. He can see his own sleep bleary face on the monitor, smiling like a dope, lit by the glow of the computer. James moved out of frame to strangle Eddie, who is currently screaming for his life, but he could still see the little makeshift nest James made of the desk, complete with a little figure of a corgi, (Ein, his mind reminds him) a half-drunk Frappucino, and his charging DS. 

"HEY PAPI, YOUR BOY'S ON SCREEN!" Eddie calls, and there's a sudden silence. A man peeks into frame, looking nervous. He's got the beard (check) and the loose shirt (check), but he also has a smallish pair of glasses hanging from his nose and a puff of dark hair barely contained by a black beanie. Aleks' mouth dried up. _What a fucking nerd._

"Aleksandr?" The man asked experimentally, in that voice he knew so well, and Aleks feels an earth-shattering nervousness that brings him right back into the first year of high school, stuttering out an invitation to the prom to a bewildered Stacy Anders. Way, _way_ out of his league. 

"Yeah, what's up, dude," He calls out, trying for nonchalant. He wasn't expecting the triumphant, "I TOLD YOU ASSHOLE!" James crows to Eddie off screen, who yelps in reply. His smile is even more fuckin' glorious in person. James looks him over, and Aleks suddenly feels self-conscious. He crosses his arms, and James mouth drops open slightly at the sight of the blues and oranges running up his arm. 

"What is that? Let me see," He beckons, trying to see clearly through the monitor. Aleks looks down at his crossed arms in surprise. He was so used to the sleeve, it's like he sees right through it. 

"Oh, uh," He brings him arm as close to the camera as he could make it, "I have a sleeve of... space. Space sleeve, if you will." He turns it this way and that, smiling at the dumbfounded look James was giving him. He points out the asteroids, and the Russian space shuttle, and the shooting stars, prodding each drawing with a gentle finger. "What a fucking dork," James mumbles, mostly to himself, and Aleks flips him off, laughing. James smiles at up him from over 249 miles away, and Aleks feels the fucking corny music of rom coms start to play in his head. His palms are sweating. 

"I got one too," James says proudly, bringing showing off his forearm to the camera. Aleks could make out a few cracked vials and a zombie outline before James pulls it down again, seemingly self-conscious. "That's fuckin' sick," Aleks supplies, and James sucks his teeth, looking away. There's a silence. Aleks is used to silences. 

"You know," James says, still not looking at the camera, "You don't look like I thought you would." Aleks' heart sinks. _Fuck_ , his mind helpfully supplies. "Oh, what? Why?" He says, trying to joke around. _Was he expecting Matthew McConaughey? Sandra Bullock?_

"You're all... cute and shit. I was expecting some nerd-ass 40 year old," James scratches the back of his neck, his blush visible even over the shit connection, and suddenly Aleks wonders why he chose to spend another minute more than twenty feet from this man. 

"Yeah, well, me too. I guess," Aleks sputters, and James looks into the camera then, smiling so wide Aleks' heart threatens to collapse. 

Eddie makes his grand entrance to the stream then, dramatically rolling in the shot with his rolling chair, interrupting whatever moment there was between them. The smaller man with the goatee rolls up to the camera, ignoring James attempts to push him away, and squints at Aleks' tiny picture. Aleks stays perfectly still, slightly pissed at the interruption. 

"This is your guy, eh?" He says, and James crosses his arms to glare at him. Eddie shrugs. "Pretty hot, my man. Good job." James, now blushing even harder, swats at him, and Eddie bats him off. "See you later, loverboy," Eddie winks, distancing himself from James' flailing arms, and slowly rolls back to his spot offscreen. 

James, looking like he has been traumatized, takes off his glasses, and puts his head in his hands. 

"'Pretty hot?'" Aleks asks, amused, and James just puts a hand up, the universal "give me a minute" sign. "Well, he's not wrong," Aleks preens, flexing slightly, and James wheezes a little. "He definitely is not," James concurs, and puts his glasses back on. His hands find the hair ties around his wrist and he shakes his beanie off, deftly tying his hair up in a bun. He swerves back to Aleks a second later, playing with some strand at the back of his neck. _Damn this dude,_ Aleks thinks as his hands start to tremble more, _way, way out of my league._

They talk about who knows what for the next hour, and James keeps looking at him with a how-did-I-get here look, and Aleks can't blame him. He barely knows either. They talk about James' dog a lot. (James proudly shows a picture of her on his phone, pointing out her tiny legs with an adoring, cooing voice.) They talk about what Aleks is going to do when he gets back on the ground, and Aleks practically moans the word, "hamburger." They talk about what it's like in Houston _("Fucking hot.")_ and Aleks' home country of Russia. _("Why are you with NASA, space race?"_ Aleks shrugs. _"Moved here when I was 8. Someone's got to keep a double agent in space.")_

James takes a look at his watch about an hour and a half in, and groans. Aleks, whose head is now perched on his crossed arms, looks up to him with surprise. 

"Eddie, shift swaps in 10!" James calls out, and Aleks hear a small "Woo!" in the distance. He looks back up at Aleks with what looks like grief, but Aleks can't really tell, due to him being complete shit at figuring out signals. 

"I have to go. You better call tomorrow, or I'm going to go up there myself," James says, trying to sound strict. Aleks laughs, long and luxuriously, trying to make it sound like he wouldn't count the minutes. 

"I will, Commander," Aleks counters, and there's that fucking grin again, parked on James' face like it owns it. God, he's got dimples too. 

"Alright. Uh," James starts, and can't finish before Eddie pops into view, his bag slung over his shoulders. "Say hey to my boy Seamus, please. Tell him I miss him," Eddie says, blowing a kiss at the camera. Aleks nods wholeheartedly, and James flips him off again. That'd make Seamus smile tomorrow at breakfast. Aleks can't wait. 

"Also, loverboy won't say it, but he thinks you're hot shit," Eddie starts, going so close to the camera his whole face takes up the monitor. James grabs him by the bag and starts to pull him to the exit. "'Hotter than the motherfucking sun,'" Eddie yells just as he's pushed outside the door. When the door is firmly shut, James sneaks a look at the camera to see if Aleks caught that, and sighs when it's obvious he did. 

"Gotta go, Aleksandr. Call me tomorrow," James starts, coming toward his desk, and Aleks interrupts him. 

"I'm not a biologist, but I'm pretty sure you're also hot shit," Aleks tries, and James looks gobsmacked for a second, before dissolving in giggles. 

"I think you're pretty cool too," James says nervously, and god, what kind of high school special do they live in? _Hold my hand, James,_ Aleks mocks, but frowns when it backfires and his heart revs. 

"I'll see you tomorrow, James," Aleks ends, grinning, and James nods, hands waving as the feed cuts out. 

Aleks leans back after the comm is shut off, hating the sudden silence in the absence of James. He misses him, of course he does. He's just some dude in space, stuck with the stars and six other assholes for company. 

He drifts over to the cupola after turning all the comm machinery off, sighing as he glimpses what looked to be Italy swimming underneath him. He sits there, thinking, as the world underneath him moves along. 

He floats over to his sleeping node, and is asleep twenty minutes later, zipped up in his bunk, ignoring the sound of Spencer snoring next to him. He dreams soundlessly, a dream of James and him in Houston, sharing a fucking Whataburger. Bitten lips, stolen glances, all that soap opera bullshit. 

Stef teases him in the morning about his deep undereye circles, and he swats her prodding fingers away. Aleks relays Eddie's message at breakfast to a sleepy Seamus, complete with blown kiss. Seamus smirks into his peanut butter and honey tortilla. He makes Aleks promise to wake him up the next night to say hello, and Aleks swears he will. 

Seamus hair is loose from the ponytail he usually traps it in, and there's a blonde halo around his head as he sucks down his sugarless coffee, and Stef frees her hair too, shaking it loose and laughing as it flies all over. Spencer looks on wistfully, rubbing his scalp. The other two astronauts, two Chinese astronauts who came up last week, wave as they drift by. It's peaceful. 

Everyone disperses with a smile and a wave after, and Aleks is alone with his thoughts again. He checks his G-Shock, sighing at the 9:20am blinking at him. _16 more hours,_ he thinks, as he drifts over to the gym module to run on the treadmill. _Can't wait._

Somewhere, approximately 249 miles below him, someone thinks the same thing.

**Author's Note:**

> So many space references w/ the Creatures, I couldn't just leave it.  
> I did as much research as I could for some of the facts, so if one is wrong, please let me know.  
> Hope you enjoyed.


End file.
